


We'll Make It Work

by evanderblake



Series: The Giveaway Project [3]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Autophobia, Depression, Drinking, Egobang - Freeform, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Polygrumps, ShipGrumps, egoflap - Freeform, sad shit but also good shit, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-04 17:19:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15151949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanderblake/pseuds/evanderblake
Summary: When Dan has to leave on a trip, Arin is left all alone. Bad decisions were made.





	We'll Make It Work

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saiq2004](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiq2004/gifts).



> This is fic #3 in the Giveaway Series! For @saiq2004 on tumblr!
> 
> Find me on tumblr: @friendevan

“I swear it’ll only be a week. One week and then we’ll be back to working. It’ll be good for you to take some time off, dude. You’ve been… going crazy over all the shit you’re doing.”

They had been sitting at the airport for what felt like hours, waiting for Dan’s flight to Jersey. Like he had said, it was only a week, but that was a whole week without him. Without Suzy even, as she was flying back to Florida to visit her family, too. A week alone. It would… be good for him. Sure. He was trying his hardest to believe that.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’ll be nice to… relax,” Arin replied, laughing a bit. He didn’t think it was going to be nice. He thought it was going to be hell without the two people he loved most in this world. But he couldn’t say that. He couldn’t guilt Dan into staying just for him. He had family back home. Family that missed him and loved him. How selfish would it be to ask him to stay? “I’m just… gonna miss you, dude. We haven’t been apart for that long in a while.”

Dan set down his luggage and wrapped his arms around Arin, hugging him tightly as he held back the tears threatening to well up in his eyes. He couldn’t cry in front of Arin; Dan knew how nervous he was. “I’ll be back before you know it, Big Cat. I’ll call you every day, we can text all the time… We’ll make it work.”

God, how pathetic was it that he couldn’t even survive a week without Dan? He was mentally kicking himself for making his weaknesses known, wishing instead he would have just put on a facade and pretended that everything was okay. Now Dan was going to be worried about him. He didn’t want that. He wanted him to enjoy the time with his family.

“Right. We’ll make it work.” Arin slowly released Dan from his arms, looking up into his big, brown eyes and silently wishing that… something would happen to the flight. It would get cancelled or delayed. That he didn’t have to leave so soon.

But nothing happened. And Dan boarded his flight, waving to Arin before turning around and walking through the tunnel out to the plane. Arin watched through the windows in the airport until the plane was entirely out of sight. And Dan was gone. For a whole week.

He could do this.

The drive back to his house was long and quiet. The whole way to the airport, Dan was chattering away about all the things he was going to be doing with his family, about his nephews and his sister, about his parents and their goofy traditions and how cute they were. And now there was nothing, no talking, no music, no texts… just silence. And it was fine for a while; it gave Arin a chance to admire his surroundings, the gentle buzz of city life surrounding him, the brightness of the sun and the puffy clouds that filled the ocean-blue sky. It should have made him happy, honestly. To see how beautiful everything around him was, to not be distracted by another person’s voice or his phone or music. But it made him feel even more… empty.

He checked the clock every five minutes, knowing that it would still be hours until Dan was off the plane, but wishing that somehow he could get a text to him, or maybe even call him for just a few minutes. God I’m desperate, Arin chuckled darkly, gripping the steering wheel even tighter, subconsciously trying to strangle it. Trying to release some of the anger he felt for being so needy.

_This shouldn’t be as hard as it is,_ he concluded. Going a week, only seven days, without him. Without Suzy. Without… someone. And it wasn’t as if he couldn’t talk to them. He could still text them, call them if he needed. But… they weren’t _here._ With him. It wasn’t the same. He couldn’t understand why, after 10 minutes of being alone, he was already struggling so much with the concept of solitude.

The car rolled to a stop as he waited at a light. All around him, there were couples, groups of people, kids with their friends running down the sidewalks. Even in the cars around him, it seemed like everyone had someone. And he was sitting in an empty car with no music to distract him.

The light turned green and Arin sped off, trying desperately to get away from anything that would remind him of Dan. Of Suzy. He needed to get away. To get home.

Tears began to stream down his face, blurring his vision as he pressed harder on the gas pedal. He couldn’t bear to look at anything but the road, couldn’t tear his gaze from the pavement in front of him because if he did, he would see something that might just push him past his limit.

After another ten minutes of silence he finally arrived at his house, pulling into the garage and walking into his home. It was warm and cozy, and the smell of cinnamon and vanilla hung in the air like a spell. He remembered that Suzy had baked him a bunch of desserts to have while she was gone, and he wandered to the dining table, finding the container with apple cinnamon muffins and the pan of blondies. He silently thanked her before delving into a muffin.

Was he eating because he was genuinely hungry? Or perhaps because… what else was he going to do with himself? He had only eaten half the muffin, but had started to feel bad about eating without reason. Without a second thought, he turned to the trash can in the kitchen and threw the remainder of the muffin away.

This… had to be hell. It had to be.

Four days had passed.

Somehow Arin was still… alive. Not that he had done much living.

It was just after two o’ clock in the afternoon when he opened his eyes, finding himself passed out on the couch in his living room, the TV still on and displaying the menu screen from _Breath of the Wild._ He didn’t remember playing that game at all last night.

He… couldn’t remember anything, actually. Besides the basic stuff, like his name, where he lived, that he was married and also dating his best friend…

As Arin began sitting up, a rush of pain shot through his head, forcing him to fall back onto the couch. This wasn’t normal. He looked around the room desperately looking for clues as to what the fuck happened the night before. And then he noticed a nearly empty bottle of liquor on the floor.

He… got drunk? He couldn’t remember clearly. He remembered making himself dinner, and then he remembered running out to the store to pick up a few necessities that they’d forgotten on their previous shopping trip.

And he remembered the trail of thoughts that led him to a shady liquor store on the wrong side of town. Being persuaded by the cashier there to buy some kind of drink he’d never heard of – though he wasn’t really one to drink in the first place.

Oh god. His phone was buzzing in his pocket. It was a miracle it hadn’t died yet, though it was only at five percent.

Dan was calling. Arin panicked and denied the call, unsure of what he had even done last night, too afraid to answer a call not knowing if he had sent anything to him, or to Suzy, or to anyone for that matter. Arin tried to swipe his way into the messaging app, but it felt like everything was moving in slow motion, like his hands didn’t want to listen to him. He kept tapping the wrong buttons, ending up in the wrong apps.

_ARIN [10:03 PM]_

_jesus dude have you ever tried this shit_

He had sent a picture of the bottle, already a fourth of the way gone.

_SEXY KITTEN [10:04 PM]_

_Arin you know I don’t drink. And I thought you didn’t either?_

_ARIN [10:06 PM]_

_what else am I gonna do_

_SEXY KITTEN [10:08 PM]_

_Anything but drinking? Are you okay right now?_

_ARIN [10:12 PM]_

_doin gr8 dont worry_

_ARIN [10:14]_

_actually no im not gr8 i miss you like crazy_

It only seemed to get worse from there. He was a blubbering mess, rambling on and on about how lonely he was, how much he missed him, how upset he had been the past few days. It was a mess. Dan hadn’t replied to any of it.

But that’s probably why he was calling.

He checked his notifications, and immediately winced at the list. Five calls from Dan, seven from Suzy, accompanied by 3 different voicemails.

Shit. He was so stupid.

The first voicemail was simple and sweet, a goodnight message from Suzy. The worry in her voice was a little too obvious as Arin hadn’t picked up the phone. But for all she knew at that moment, he was asleep.

The following two messages did not follow suit.

The second call was from Dan early in the morning, a hushed, concerned call begging that Arin wake up, pick up the phone, asking if he was okay.

He deleted the message.

The third was from Dan, two hours later, the desperation and worry in his voice nearly palpable, giving Arin shivers and making his stomach flip.

_Please Arin… please, I need you to pick up. You’re not answering anything, and I… I’m so worried about you I need you to answer me. Please… pick up… please Arin I need to know you’re okay._

Then his phone started to buzz once more, Dan’s pretty face displayed across his screen. He debated answering the call for a few seconds, thinking it might be better if he just… didn’t bother anyone with his problems. But clearly that didn’t work. It led him to the position he was in now.

Arin tapped the green button then held the phone to his ear, unsure of what to say. Instead, he said nothing.

“Arin? Buddy are you there?” Dan asked, his voice raised and higher than usual. He was terrified, Arin could tell that much. The volume of the call pierced through Arin’s skull, causing his head to throb painfully.

“Y-yeah, I’m here. Don’t… don’t talk so loud. I’ve got a raging headache,” he mumbled, rubbing his forehead.

Dan didn’t answer right away, instead leaving a longer moment of silence before whispering, “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“What?” Arin questioned, entirely confused. Nothing he had texted had been… too outrageous. He was struggling to understand why Dan was so freaked out in the first place.

“The… the voicemail you left me… I was asleep, I’m so sorry I should have been up, I shouldn’t have ignored your texts I just–”

“What voicemail?” Arin asked, interrupting his boyfriend’s blubbering.

Dan chuckled darkly, “You really don’t remember anything from last night, huh? You don’t remember sending all the borderline suicidal texts, or the voicemail, or… anything?”

“I… no, I don’t. I’m sorry I just… things have been hell without you.”

“I can deduce that much. I’m not a total idiot, Arin,” Dan laughed, the worry lifting from his voice. “Why didn’t you tell me before I left? How scared you were? It would have saved us a lot of trouble, because now I’m in fuckin’ Jersey and I can’t leave for three more days. You could’ve come with. We could have made it work.”

“You said this was gonna work. And I fucking trusted you, because I knew how much you missed your family, and how long you’d been planning this trip and I didn’t want to ruin it all for you. I’m being a whiny little bitch over you leaving for a few days,” Arin rambled, tangling his hand in his greasy hair, tugging and twisting the strands. “You should… you should be able to go on a trip without me getting like this. I’m too dependent.”

“I wanted you to come with.” He said it so abruptly and plainly that it caught Arin off-guard.

“Y-you what?”

“I wanted you here. With me. I wasn’t sure how to tell you because I knew that you wanted some time at home to chill and whatever, but then none of us could stay and I figured that you’d… just be happier if you came with me,” he explained, and Arin could hear his voice break.

“Dan…” he wasn’t sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. They had both made mistakes. And they both felt guilty.

“I know I can’t come home yet. And I know you can’t fly out here just for a few days. But… believe me when I promise you that you’re going to be okay. That you’re going to make it through the week. You can call me any fuckin’ time, you can call your wife, too. We’re here for you. I am here for you, Ar. You don’t have to do this alone,” Dan tried to soothe, causing tears to stream down Arin’s cheeks.

“I just don’t want to bother you. You haven’t seen your family in months. It’s not fair to you,” Arin argued softly, wiping the streaks from his face.

“And it’s not fair to you for me to leave you and pretend that you’re okay on your own. You’re my family too, Arin. And if you need me, then let me help you, damn it. You know how much I love you, so let me help.”

“I’m… sorry,” he whispered.

He could almost feel Dan’s arms wrap around him from miles away. “You don’t have to be.”


End file.
